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Dow rises for fourth straight day on optimism from COVID-19 vaccine

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 373 points on Wednesday following optimism surrounding a potential COVID-19 vaccine. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 373 points on Wednesday following optimism surrounding a potential COVID-19 vaccine. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

Aug. 5 (UPI) -- The Dow Jones Industrial Average posted gains for a fourth consecutive day Wednesday amid positive news surrounding potential COVID-19 vaccines and a strong performance by Disney.

The blue-chip index ended the day up 373.05 points, or 1.39%, while the S&P 500 gained 0.64% and the Nasdaq Composite increased 0.52%.

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Markets were impacted by Johnson & Johnson's announcement that it had reached a deal with the U.S. government to produce and deliver 100 million doses of a potential COVID-19 vaccine.

Johnson & Johnson stock rose .8% following the announcement and Novavax stock rose 10.38% after the company announced its vaccine candidate had generated favorable immune response results following clinical trials in Australia.

Moderna stock fell 3.39% however after the company announced it would charge $32-$37 per ounce for its vaccine candidate, a higher price than Pfizer and BioNTech have agreed to with the U.S. government.

Airline stocks also received a boost after Senate Republicans supported providing an additional $25 billion in federal aid for the industry.

American Airlines stock increased 9.50%, United grew 4.46% and Delta rose 3.12%.

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Disney also helped to push the markets higher as stocks rose 8.8%, after the company announced it has 100 million subscribers across its streaming services, including Disney+, Hulu and ESPN.

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